My rating:
add to my books
Loading...
Start Where You Are: A Guide to Compassionate Living (Shambhala Library)
by
Pema Chödrön
This is a beautiful, gift book edition (with a ribbon marker) of a modern-day classic. Start Where You Are is an indispensable handbook for cultivating fearlessness and awakening a compassionate heart. With insight and humor, Pema Chödrön, author of The Wisdom of No Escape and When Things Fall Apart, presents down-to-earth guidance on how to make friends with ourselve...more
Hardcover, 240 pages
Published
March 9th 2004
by Shambhala
(first published 1994)
There is a good chance some of your friends read this book. Sign in to see!
sign in »
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
This book is currently not featured on any Listopia lists.
Add this book to your favorite list »
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
2,283)
Cindywho
rated it
·
review of another edition
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Meditators
Shelves:
meditation-yoga
I would have had a difficult time with this book if I had not been meditating and reading up on the subject for a while. It seems to have been derived from a series of talks on mind training "lojong", a certain teaching that incorporates slogans to reflect upon. Despite the jargon, she keeps up a friendly, chatty tone while presenting intense ideas about how to approach the experience of having a brain with thoughts and emotions. It's given me some new tools to work with. Thanks, P...more
This book has a few REALLY great statements, such as:
"We work on ourselves in order to help others, but also we help others in order to work on ourselves." Oh, wait a second, that's the only one.
A major part of her instruction is to teach the reader how to work with 'slogans'. I find these extremely annoying, especially when they are not in a meaningful context for me and she begins every single paragraph with "Another slogan says..."
I picked up...more
"We work on ourselves in order to help others, but also we help others in order to work on ourselves." Oh, wait a second, that's the only one.
A major part of her instruction is to teach the reader how to work with 'slogans'. I find these extremely annoying, especially when they are not in a meaningful context for me and she begins every single paragraph with "Another slogan says..."
I picked up...more
view 1 comment
Reading this book is what made me say "hey, this Buddhism thing makes a whole lot of sense to me". Pema is always down to earth and sometimes earthy in her presentation of the ideas and how they relate to our lives. She approaches every subject with compassion and makes you really feel like she understands your struggles and issues because she has gone through them, and because she is still going through them. She lets you know that while the difficulties and the issues will always ...more
I would have had a difficult time with this book if I had not been meditating and reading up on the subject for a while. It seems to have been derived from a series of talks on mind training "lojong", a certain teaching that incorporates slogans to reflect upon. Despite the jargon, she keeps up a friendly, chatty tone while presenting intense ideas about how to approach the experience of having a brain with thoughts and emotions. It's given me some new tools to work with. Thanks, P...more
You notice the sadness in someone's face. You realize that the man across from you is also thinking about breakfasts, because he has a resentful look on his face, which makes you (...hmm...) laugh (...) "
Again, the devil is the detail ;) I'd say to this quote from Pema... why? Because resentful looks on other people's faces are to be accepted with interest, not with laugh.
And instead of laughing at ourselves (or others, which is the same, we are all one after all......more
Again, the devil is the detail ;) I'd say to this quote from Pema... why? Because resentful looks on other people's faces are to be accepted with interest, not with laugh.
And instead of laughing at ourselves (or others, which is the same, we are all one after all......more
I was first introduced to Chodron's work when a friend gave me a copy of When Things Fall Apart, and I was completely blown away. It seemed as if every page contained insights specific to my situation, and I couldn't put the book down. Unfortunately, I didn't have the same experience with this book. I found a great deal of the material to be helpful, but the book didn't flow, and I often found myself flipping back to previous chapters, trying to get a sense of how new topics fit into the overall...more
Straightforward and simple, I really enjoy Ani Pema's style of explaining Buddhism's concepts and practices. This book is organized in a "daily-lesson" format but a reader doesn't have to follow the book from front to back to glean its contents. There is an emphasis on logong slogans and plenty of insights both into Pema's practice and those along the way she has helped.
You don't have to be a Buddhist to appreciate the common sense philosophy in this beautiful book--I found it life-changing. If you want to better live in the present, feel your emotions fully without letting them overwhelm you, and expand your compassion and loving kindness for others, this book is a comforting place to start.
I learned to dig deep into myself, both the parts I like and the parts I don't like, know them and live with them gracefully. I feel like a new, positive, confident person able to say and do what comes from my genuine self, my genuine open-hearted desires. A must read for anyone feeling lost or troubled.
Chodron gives the reader an extraordinary amount of insight into buddhist practice in simple terms. Her teaching is framed around 59 Buddhist maxims... and looks at them from a western standpoint, without being an idiot. Quite a feat! Anyway, a great book for anyone curious about buddhism.
This book is just so good. It is written very simply and just makes so much sense. No matter where you are at in life, this book as something for you. I would recommend this, or any book, by Pema Chodron. She is way cool.
This was my first Pema Chodron book, and I love her honesty. I'll never forget her story of throwing rocks at her ex - She became a real person to me with that one.
This is my meditation guide. I'm not consistently using the main level of meditation it prescribes, but I'm consistently meditating, which is already improving my life.
I keep re-reading chapters of the book, and each time I glean more wisdom. This is a book that will be on my 'currently reading' list for quite some time.
this is the coolest book of spiritual advice...not pushy advice...just gentle suggestions that made so much sense to me. life changer fo sho
Also recommended by my doctor to help guide in the rebuilding process of life after letting everything fall apart.
A great companion to " When Things Fall Apart" and also stands on it's own. She is remarkable!
Practical guidelines for slowing down and uncluttering our minds. The result is a kinder 'you'.
fantastic material that really speaks to the soul. if you're
"searching", def check it out
"searching", def check it out
I first found Pema Chodron through her book "When Things Fall Apart" that came to me during a particularly challenging time in my life. "Start Where You Are" is a powerful little book about awakening your compassionate heart by starting right where you are. Though I've never met her I count Pema as one of my closest friends and a dear teacher. Whether or not you are a Buddhist, this book uses the Buddhist tradition to help in one's everyday life beginning right now... where y...more
This slim volume was integral to beginning a path towards the wisdom of Buddhism. At the time i was coming to a realisation that being an Atheist, or Nilist was not working for me, yet firmly knowing that the western theistic models did not ring true for me either. This book gently but persuasively guided me towards the wisdom of the East and showed me that spirituality did not rely on a belief in a creator deity, but rather was found within. I will always be grateful to Pema Chodron and he...more
I don't know if I'm going to finish this. I started it a few months ago, and it's interesting and well written, but I was reading it on the train, and it's much more about meditation than I'd thought when I bought it, and "meditation" does not really go well with "train". I'm pretty sure that when Chödrön says to start where you are, she wasn't imagining that where I am is in the quiet ride car crammed up against some businessman and trying not to let my too-big wet umbrell...more
Kathleen
rated it
·
review of another edition
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Anyone who is interested in Buddhist thought and simple practice
Recommended to Kathleen by:
Gabe Petino
I haven't gotten all the way through this - so I'm not sure I'm justified in giving it 5 stars - but 5 stars for giving me about 30 WOW moments in the first 50 pages. I'm not even that familiar with Buddhism per se - this book, true to it's title, helps me to start where I am. There are terms I don't understand, but she does give a lot of explanation. There are specifics about meditation practice - but this isn't what I am reading for right now. This is a book that, I suspect, will be many diffe...more
This book is being read by my meditation group. I find Pema's books very rich and thought-provoking. I have read this through once, and plan to read it again, with underlining. The book is structured around traditional Tibetan Buddhist maxims such as: "Be grateful to everyone" and "Always meditate on whatever provokes resentment". She delivers profound ideas in an easy to read manner. I have read three other books by her, and hope to read more.
This is a guide to compassionate living. It introduces the lojong method of mind training. Lojong teachings are a organized list of seven points that then contain fifty nine slogans to remind you on how to awaken your heart. In my first reading I only understood about 20% of what she was talking about. No actual medation instructions are given, just the pioints and area’s to medate on to develope compassion for yourself first, others second.
Not quite done yet, but will be in a few pages. This has been a helpful book to read and study while going through some very difficult, frightening, upsetting times and dealing with difficult people. The author offers some life-saving branches to grab on to if you feel yourself freefalling into frustration or despair and to help you pull yourself back up to serenity, joy, and compassion. Eventually.
The first time I read this book in college it was very enlightening, I loaned it out somewhere along the way and just recently brought (read: bought ;) it back to my collection. It has just as much to say these days regarding my thought patterns, deep rooted habits, and and how to move beyond them to live more gently and compassionately.. Pema Chodron is a wonderful teacher.
This easy-to-read, insightful book teaches a Tibetan Buddhist meditation technique in which you breathe in negativity and breathe out positivity in order to connect with the suffering of all beings and share your own joy and compassion with others. Pema has an amazingly comforting and memorable tone.
Slogans, koans, a 12-step program that rails against 12-step programs. Chödrön always has much to say, but I felt constricted by the format she chose for this book. The structure seemed stifling. But that's me today. I'll try this one again in a few years, and until then will just reread a few of her others.
This is my favorite of Pema Chodron's books about Buddhism. It is not an easy read, partly because she uses principals that were written originally in an ancient language. It is very rich with ways to perceive daily life and assist yourself in growing to know your "true nature."
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Readers Also Enjoyed
Ani Pema Chödrön was born Deirdre Blomfield-Brown in 1936, in New York City. She attended Miss Porter's School in Connecticut and graduated from the University of California at Berkeley. She taught as an elementary school teacher for many years in both New Mexico and California. Pema has two children and three grandchildren.
While in her mid-thirties, Ani Pema traveled to the French Alp...more
More about Pema Chödrön...
While in her mid-thirties, Ani Pema traveled to the French Alp...more
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
“Life is glorious, but life is also wretched. It is both. Appreciating the gloriousness inspires us, encourages us, cheers us up, gives us a bigger perspective, energizes us. We feel connected. But if that's all that's happening, we get arrogant and start to look down on others, and there is a sense of making ourselves a big deal and being really serious about it, wanting it to be like that forever. The gloriousness becomes tinged by craving and addiction. On the other hand, wretchedness--life's painful aspect--softens us up considerably. Knowing pain is a very important ingredient of being there for another person. When you are feeling a lot of grief, you can look right into somebody's eyes because you feel you haven't got anything to lose--you're just there. The wretchedness humbles us and softens us, but if we were only wretched, we would all just go down the tubes. We'd be so depressed, discouraged, and hopeless that we wouldn't have enough energy to eat an apple. Gloriousness and wretchedness need each other. One inspires us, the other softens us. They go together.”
—
66 people liked it
“WE ALREADY HAVE everything we need. There is no need for self-improvement. All these trips that we lay on ourselves—the heavy-duty fearing that we’re bad and hoping that we’re good, the identities that we so dearly cling to, the rage, the jealousy and the addictions of all kinds—never touch our basic wealth. They are like clouds that temporarily block the sun. But all the time our warmth and brilliance are right here. This is who we really are. We are one blink of an eye away from being fully awake.”
—
9 people liked it
More quotes…
